The Commission on
Judicial Performance yesterday charged Orange Superior Court Judge Kelly
MacEachern with violating the Code of Judicial Ethics by claiming reimbursement
for attendance at a judicial education program that she never went to.

While MacEachern
withdrew the request after it was questioned by her presiding judge, her
actions constituted willful misconduct—the most serious level of judicial
wrongdoing under the code—as well as inability to perform her duties and
conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice, the commission alleges.

In a notice of formal
proceedings, which MacEachern has until Aug. 28 to respond to, the CJP charges
that the judge went to San Diego for one week to attend a continuing judicial
studies program.

Prior to her trip, she
signed up for a class entitled “Excellence in Judging.”

Entry into the class was
denied by the program because MacEachern was not considered qualified. In turn,
she attempted enrollment in an evidence class.

Denied Admission

MacEachern was again
denied admission, this time because the class was full. At this point, prior to
leaving for San Diego, the only class she was validly enrolled in was a one-day
lecture.

MacEachern was given
advance notice by AOC Senior Attorney Bonnie Pollard that since she was
attending a one day class, only one night at the Hyatt Regency Islandia Hotel
would be paid for by the state.. The other four nights were consequently paid
with her personal credit card.

It is MacEachern’s
conduct upon returning to Orange County that brought about the charges. She
allegedly attempted to get reimbursed by the county for the extended hotel
stay.

Explaining Situation

When questioned about
the discrepancy between the weeklong stay and the one-day class, MacEachern
explained in an email that there was “a mix up with my registration,” so she
“sat in on the judicial excellence class on Monday” and “sat in on the Thursday
a.m. D.V. [Domestic Violence] class.”

A reimbursement request
was given to Orange Superior Court Presiding Judge Nancy Stock, who had her
executive assistant conduct an investigation into the claim. It was determined
that the judge did not sit in on any classes, and that there was no mix-up
with her registration.

Stock, in the presence
of Judge Thierry Colaw, confronted MacEachern, the commission said, and
MacEachern admitted to Stock and Colaw that she provided misleading information
in order to get reimbursed for her expenses before withdrawing her claim.

MacEachern, 53, was
elected to the court in 2002 and is up for re-election next year. She served as
a deputy district attorney in Orange County from 1981 until her election to the
bench, after having been a deputy Long Beach city prosecutor for a year.

A graduate of UCLA and
Southwestern University School of Law, she taught elementary school in Barrow,
Alaska and in Long Beach before becoming an attorney. She is a past president
of the Association of Orange County Deputy District Attorneys and currently
sits at the Harbor courthouse in Newport Beach.

MacEachern did not
return a phone call, and her attorney, Edward P. George Jr., could be reached
for comment.